April 18, 2009

It is amazing how dependent I am on my computer, back up drives, wireless network cards and routers. When parts die, I grind to a halt. Last night my husband got everything fixed.

Then we got side tracked by the videos from week 1 of this season's Britain's Got Talent. It's a fun show with so many talented folks competing.

This week's first recipe from the Baking & Pastry Project using the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book is for Whole Wheat Bread (page 130) and the shaping exercise is the batard (page 197). It is a high protein bread that calls for high gluten flour that has 14 percent protein for 100 grams of flour, as compared to 12 percent protein for bread flour. This recipe contains both types of flour, the first series of gluten free flours are to replace the bread flour and the second set (after the line) are to replace the whole wheat flour. The protein amounts of each flour follow in parenthesis. The total amount of protein for the original whole wheat bread was 36.79 grams (per 100 g flour) as compared to 36.47 grams of gluten free flour (per 100 g flour). The agave syrup was added to take the slightly harsh after taste away from the dough.

The dough shaped up beautifully and had a fabulous crust after it was baked. The flavor is a little stronger, but it makes fabulous sandwiches and seasoned croutons.

Recipe

32 g brown rice flour (2.88 g)

30 g sweet rice flour (1.8 g)

30 g arrowroot starch (0.3 g)

78 g Anasazi bean flour (17.16 g)

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100 g buckwheat flour (14.3 g)

13 g arrowroot starch (0.03 g)

6 g chia seed meal

2 g agar agar powder

5 g instant dry yeast

5 g sea salt

210 ml - 260 ml water

2 ml agave syrup

1. In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients and stir making sure the ingredients are thoroughly blended. Pour in the agave syrup and the water mixing until combined.

2. On a sheet of parchment paper sprinkle some sweet rice flour and turn out the bread dough. Shape into a batard shape and using a sharp knife slice length wise down the center of the dough. Place onto a french bread loaf pan, cover the dough and allow to rise for 45 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 460 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have a baking stone, place it in the oven at the same time on a shelf in the top third of the oven. Gather an oven proof bowl that can hold water, a stone or brick, and a squirt bottle filled with water for steaming your bread. Allow the stone or brick to warm in the oven.

4. Remove the stone or brick from the oven and slide the parchment paper with the batard onto the baking stone. Place the water bowl on a shelf in the bottom third of the oven. Then place the brick or stone into the pan of water. Squirt the sides of the oven with water and the top of the bread. Bake for 3 minutes then squirt the sides of the oven and top of bread with water. Then continue to bake for another 17 minutes. Prop open the door of the oven and allow the bread to cook for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven, then let the bread cool about 1 ½ hours before cutting.

Natalie - you are doing terrific work - really, you are a pioneer. Thank you for helping all of us realize the huge possibilities for baking with gluten free flours. You should think about writing a cookbook based on these bread recipes!